A COVENTRY security guard who feared he might develop Aids after he was bitten by an HIV-positive thief is furious that his attacker could serve only six months behind bars.

The guard, who was bitten after he stopped the man stealing goods from a Coventry catalogue store, said he was disgusted at the short sentence handed down by a judge at Coventry Crown Court.

Persistent criminal and recovering drug addict Marcus John Stacey was jailed for a year yesterday after admitting assault with intent to evade arrest and theft.

After the case, the guard told how his marriage almost broke up because he spent nearly a year waiting to find out if he had contracted HIV, the virus which can lead to Aids.

The 40-year-old guard, who lives in Coventry with his wife and son, said: "This guy has put me through hell. He was HIV positive and he bit me. It put my marriage on the rocks. He should have been locked up for about eight years. I'm gobsmacked."

Stacey, aged 42, of Smith Street, Foleshill, is likely to be back on the streets in three months. He can expect to be released on licence after serving half his one-year sentence and the three months he has spent on remand will count towards his punishment.

After his arrest, Stacey was bailed but fled to Ireland for more than a year. Because of that delay in bringing the case to court, the guard cannot claim damages from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board because it is now more than two years since the attack.

Lawrence Watts, prosecuting, told the court Stacey had gone into the Stage Two store in Austin Drive, Courthouse Green, along with a woman and a child in June, 1999.

He stole a drill set, hiding it under the child's pushchair but was stopped by the security guard.

Stacey started waving around a craft knife and taunting the guard, saying: "Do you want some of this?"

The guard chased Stacey into the car park, where the two men started struggling. Stacey bit the guard's arm but eventually gave up the fight and was arrested.

The guard said that, after Stacey had been arrested, the police told him to go straight to hospital because the thief was HIV positive.

The guard endured months of medical tests and when he was finally given the all-clear - 10 months after the attack - he broke down and cried.

The guard said: "I nearly lost my wife. We couldn't make love for nearly a year because I was worried I could be passing a killer disease to her. I had to go to Aids counselling sessions and sit in with drug addicts, which really got me down.

"I spent 10 months not knowing whether I might die. But there was no chance for me to tell the court about all the heartache I had been through. The system is totally wrong - there's not enough emphasis on what victims like me have been through. I feel like I've been kicked in the teeth."